“Fact, your parents’ marriage sucks. They argue a lot, your mom cries a lot, everything sucks in your house. You feel bad for your mom. You want to take away her pain, but you can’t. You wonder why she doesn’t leave your dad. That makes you feel guilty. You think love sucks because it leads to marriage and marriages suck.”
“What are you? Some sort of therapist now?” I bit out, annoyed she’d come so close to the truth.
“You think that you’re like your dad because you have similar temperaments. He gets annoyed easily, he gets angry, shouts, becomes a dominant bossy boots and completely loses it at times.”
“Glad to know what you think of me.”
“I’ve known you for years, Jeff.” She sat down on a chair next to my kitchen table. “I’ve also met your parents several times.”
“Yeah, and so what?”
“You’re not your dad.” She took another gulp of beer and leaned forward on the table. “And Betsy isn’t your mom. Betsy doesn’t suffer from depression, and she isn’t going to spend her nights crying and sad.”
“I know,” I spoke softly, actually glad to finally be able to voice my words to someone. “I didn’t realize my mom had manic depression. I didn’t know she was on pills. Not until this week.”
“How did you find out?”
“I spoke to my dad. I asked him why he didn’t leave so that she could be happy.” I sat down on a chair as well. “Turns out that she’d be more unhappy if he left.” I shook my head. “Turns out that even though they argue a lot, it’s not the arguments that make my mom so sad.” I looked at Jules and the compassion on her face surprised me. “My mom told me that. I spoke to her as well. She told me that she loved my dad. That he’d always been her biggest support. They both apologized to me. They didn’t realize that I’d gone so many years thinking what I thought.” I shook my head. “I always thought that their marriage was destructive and horrible, and maybe it really is, but not for the reasons I thought.” I took a big breath. “It scares me to see their relationship. I don’t want that.”
“I know.” Jules got up and walked over to me. “I know, Jeff, but Betsy is not your mom.” She rested her hand on my shoulder. “She’s a different woman, and mentally, she’s very strong. And she loves you, Jeff. She really loves you. And you’re fucking it all up.”
“What?” I blinked at her, taken aback by her words. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s been obvious to me for ages that you love Betsy. I’ve never seen someone as slow and dense as you. I didn’t want to butt in, but I have to. My girl is hurting, and it’s because of you, and if you don’t get your head out of your ass, you’re going to lose her and it’s going to be your own fault.”
“I do love her,” I said slowly. “It feels weird saying that out loud. I love her so fucking hard, it’s not even funny. It scares me how much I love her. I just want to be with her and hold her and never let her go. And I’m scared I’m going to fuck it all up.”
“You’re not going to fuck it up.” Jules smiled at me but I could see that her eyes were wet.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her, nervous. “Are you okay?”
“You just admitted you love, Betsy.” She laughed slightly. “Finally. Thank you, God. I’ve been waiting for this day.”
“Does Nolan know as well?” I asked.
“Oh, hell no.” She laughed harder then. “He’s going to kill you. Especially when he finds out you guys had sex before you were a couple.”
“A couple?” I stared at her, blinking hard.
“Jeffrey Evian, don’t be fucking dense. What is it you want from Betsy?”
“I want her to be my girlfriend and then my wife,” I said the words out loud. “I want her to be the mother of my children.”
“You know what that means, right?”
“What?” I asked her curiously.
“It means, that one day soon, we’re going to end up officially being brother and sister.” She grinned, and I smiled back down at her.
“You’re annoying as hell, but I do love you, Jules,” I said, realizing just how true the words were. “You’re a really great friend to Betsy, and I’m glad you’re in my life.”
“I think the world has just stopped.” Jules laughed. “It has officially just stopped.”
“Ha ha.” I raised my eyebrows at her. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
“Think?” She shook her head. “Nah, I know.”
“So you’re really okay with me and Betsy being together?” I paused. “Do you think Nolan will come around?”
“Yeah, he will.”
“What about Nanna?” I sighed. “She seemed to think that Nick was the one for Betsy. Maybe he is better for her than I am. Maybe he wouldn’t sleep with her and disappear for a week.”
“Nanna said that Nick was the one for Betsy?” Jules started laughing. “Oh, Nanna, she really will stop at nothing.”
“Sorry, what?” I narrowed my eyes and stared at her. “Is she responsible for setting Nick and Betsy up?”
“In a way.” Jules gave me a wicked grin. “In a way.”
“What does in a way mean?”
“You have to promise not to kill me or Nanna.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I, Jules?”
“I don’t know.” She grinned. “Maybe yes, maybe no. But you have to do one thing before I tell you everything.”
“What’s that?”
“You need to call Betsy and ask to meet her tomorrow so you can explain everything.”
“I was going to call her tonight,” I said with a grin. “I was just getting out of the shower and then I was going to call her and head over to her place.”
“Oh.” Jules looked surprised. “So I didn’t need to come over and get your head on straight?”
“No.” I shook my head. “But I’m glad that you
